Archive for category: Roman Catholicism

(Once again, by the mouth of two or three witnesses: please see this excellent refutation of Armstrong’s errors on this same point).    I recently pointed out a basic, simplistic error in Dave Armstrong’s new book: he claims Protestants (he makes no distinctions) think elders, bishops, and deacons are all one office. He is, of course, wrong about this. I know

   I could not have said it better, but, it is best when someone else observes, and comments upon, the obvious. Read Armstrong’s post. Not even the mention of a single point of criticism of his position. Not once. Just “Oh, woe is me! I’m a victim!” Truly amazing. Please note, I am not reviewing Armstrong’s book for the sake of

   Dave Armstrong has a new book out (anyone who has visited his website for many months is well aware of this fact). It is titled, The One-Minute Apologist. There isn’t much new here (Armstrong is not an original thinker, he just collates what others say and repeats their arguments, normally in very inflated forms), but the format is interesting. Each

   I began working through the reasons offered by Frank Beckwith for his reversion to Rome contained in a recent National Catholic Register article, found here. Of course, such an article cannot provide an exhaustive accounting, but so far we have seen indications that the foundations of this move were rather hastily constructed, or, more accurately, the actual foundations went back

   Dave Armstong: Papal Stalker. Check it out for yourself.

I’ve been working through Catholic apologist Gary Michuta’s new book, Why Catholic Bibles Are Bigger (Michigan: The Grotto Press, 2007). Michuta’s book has informed us Josephus can’t be trusted when he refers to a twenty-two book Jewish Bible. We also learned Rabbinical Judaisms’ tradition of a cessation of prophecy after the time of Artaxerxes was concocted in the second century

   Beckwith then begins to recount, briefly, his steps back into full communion with Rome, which included David Currie’s book, Born Fundamentalist, Born-Again Catholic. The time-frame is also interesting. His reading of “the Early Church Fathers” and the Catholic Catechism began long, long ago…in January. Given I blogged his conversion in early May, which went back to late April, not even

   As I noted a few days ago, Frank Beckwith has begun elucidating his reasons for going back to the Roman communion. In an article in the National Catholic Register, Beckwith answers various questions about his reversion. I continue reviewing his comments. For instance, because Protestant evangelicals accept much of the Great Tradition that Catholics take for granted such as the

   For some reason my Google blog search pulls up items from the Catholic Answers forums. This one came up a little while ago: On James White’s web site, he is advertising’s a number of debates against Tim Staples, Patrick Madrid and Mitch Pacwa. Presumably, he believes he ‘won’ these debates, at one point noting that St. Joseph’s Communications would not

I’ve been going through Catholic apologist Gary Michuta’s new book, Why Catholic Bibles Are Bigger. Obvious from the title, the book attempts to validate the apocryphal Old Testament books found in Roman Catholic Bibles.    Michuta argues the Jewish canon was open until the middle decades of the second century. This late closing of the Hebrew canon allows for the canonicity

In reference to White’s article dated May 30, 2007. “Francis Beckwith Begins to Give His Reasons” It is well expected that Mr. White’s comments towards Mr. Beckwith’s reversion to Mother Church would not be favorable. What else would one expect from White. What else could White have said, but not speak in a favorable tone. After all White is a

   I’m sure I am not the first person to note that “the overwhelming historical weight of the dogmas defined by Rome on the basis of tradition, such as Papal Infallibility, the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and the Bodily Assumption of Mary, compelled me to bow to the authority of Rome” has not been at the top of Dr. Beckwith’s reasons

I regularly visit Roman Catholic blogs and websites to see what the apologists are up to. Here are a few highlights.        The Envoy boards provided this newsbreaker from Catholic apologist Patrick Madrid:    “My new book on the subject of sola scriptura, which I’m finishing up this summer, responds directly and in detail to these claims made by King and

If you’re curious to know about the outcome of the Eric Svendsen vs. Mitch Pacwa debate, “What is the final authority for the believer–the church (sola ecclesia) or the Scriptures (sola scriptura?)”, you can read a discussion/review about it here.

   Catholic apologist Art Sippo is asking that I apologize to Gary Michuta for my recent blog entry on the book of Sirach. Sippo says,    “The ever overbearing and ill informed James Swan has been making ignorant rumblings about Gary’s book. I guess the Death Eaters are feeling intimidated by real scholarship so they have to nit-pick without any real understanding

   My Google Blog Search pulled this comment up: If you read a little more on the blog, you’ll see that at one time I had a sola scriptura philosophy. Then I realized such a philosophy is unbiblical. I couldn’t find anywhere in the Bible where the Bible says that the Bible is the sole authority for all matters related to

   Looking forward to doing “Kilted Apologetics” tonight here in Larbert (the Falkirk area between Glasgow and Edinburgh). Just finished a brand new digital presentation on the difference between the Uthmanic Revision and the transmission of the text of the New Testament that I’m looking forward to presenting tonight. Don’t worry, pictures tomorrow!    In any case, I began surfing around a

   Here was a thread that caught my eye on the Catholic Answers forums:    “I was looking at Philip Porvaznik’s (“Philvaz”) website and saw an interesting quote from protestant apologist William Webster and David king in their book “The Holy Scripture: Pillar and Foundation of our faith”     ” The patristic evidence for sola Scriptura is, we believe, an overwhelming indictment

I’ve been going through Catholic apologist Gary Michuta’s new book, Why Catholic bibles Are Bigger (Michigan: The Grotto Press, 2007). The first bit of evidence the book covers is the usage and citations of the apocryphal Book of Sirach (also known as Ecclesiasticus) and its impact on the canonical status of the apocryphal books. Sirach dates from 200-150 B.C. Protestants

In his book, Why Catholic Bibles Are Bigger, Catholic apologist Gary Michuta Argues Protestant apologists misuse these words from the Jewish historian Josephus:    “It is true, our history hath been written since Artaxerxes very particularly, but hath not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers, because there hath not been an exact succession of prophets

I regularly visit Roman Catholic blogs and websites to see what the apologists are up to. Here are a few highlights.        Catholic apologist Dr. Art Sippo has found a new vehicle by which to express himself: a blog. I guess it’s my fault actually. I ran a little entry documenting some of the outrageous comments Sippo makes. This somehow

   Evidently the spirit of the Inquisition lives on. As you may know, men wrote in defense of the use of torture and imprisonment during the dark days of the Inquisition because they believed that since to be separated from the Church was to experience eternal loss, it was better to torture the body temporarily now than to lose the soul

   The following just appeared on the Catholic Answers Forum: Mr White has been following this thread. On his website he states this: Over on the Catholic Answers forums a thread has developed calling for a day of fasting and prayer for my conversion to Roman Catholicism. I would like to encourage Christians to spend time in prayer asking God to

   As our regular readers know, over the past week or so once again the wrath of a wide spectrum of Roman Catholics has been sent my direction due to my daring to be consistent with my own faith and with the positions I have presented in published works and public debates for many years. You have also noticed, I’m sure,

   If you want an incredible example of self-deception and suppression of truth, here’s one from this morning. You will recall that I noted the less-than-honest and accurate words of one California attorney, Peter Sean Bradley. First, I replied to his comments on the Beckwith situation here. I walked through his entire article and responded to, and refuted, each point. Then,

Catholic apologist Gary Michuta has released a new book, Why Catholic Bibles Are Bigger (Michigan: The Grotto Press, 2007). Michuta scrutinizes the Protestant assertion that the canon of Jesus and the Apostles was closed and fixed. Calling it a “Protestant tradition” (p.50), he notes the writing of Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (AD 37-101) serves as an important source for Protestant

Dr. White, if you understood how much you are loved by Roman Catholics in spite of your misled ramblings regarding our beliefs, you would go into your secret place and ask Jesus what He would have you do and say instead of assuming what He would have you do and say. I say this from experience and from a very

   The grand myth of Roman Catholic dogmatics (enshrined in her own statements), is the idea of the “unanimous consent of the Fathers.” Outside of monotheism, I do not believe you could create a “unanimous consent” based upon the currently existing historical record for any doctrine, any belief, without engaging in “tradition editing,” that is, without picking and choosing which sources

   These things go in waves, don’t they? Especially when it comes to Roman Catholicism. Well, better to address the issues openly, demonstrate that we do so for consistent and biblical reasons, and provide, by our refusal to engage in the same kinds of behaviors common in our critics, that dedication to the truth honors God and edifies the saints.    Well,

   As noted earlier, I ran across a blog entry titled “James White annoys me to no end.” When I read the article, I quickly typed up a few basic questions, designed to do nothing more than point out yet once again the double-standard that seems to define Roman Catholics on the web these days. I did not take the time